Acidification+in+the+Ocean

Did you know that Ocean acidification could destroy all our coral reefs by **2050?** //According to NaturalNews.com, ocean acidification was named the number one threat to ocean life by scientists from the international Coral Reef Symposium.//

__**OCEAN ACIDIFICATION:**__ constant decrease in pH levels of the Earth's oceans. According to Science Daily.com, ocean acidification is caused by the anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In the natural carbon cycle, CO2 is a balance of instability between the oceans terrestrial biosphere and atmosphere.

1) In the past decade, human activities such as land use and the combustion of fossil fuels have led to a new changes of CO2 into the atmosphere then 2) some of the carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere, [|terrestrial plants] take some and then the oceans absorb the rest. When sea water mixes with carbon dioxide, they react to form carbonic acid.

"The worlds leading marine Scientists are warning us that our current rates of [|carbon emissions] are making our oceans more acidic. This is happening so fast that it poses  a serious threat to biodiversity and marine life”  - Oceanacidification.net

OCEAN ACIDIFICATION DESTROYS..... "Coral reefs are at the heart of our tropics and millions of people around the world depends on these systems for their livelihoods," said by Lynne Hale, director or Nature Conservancy's Marine Initiative. She says "Without urgent action to limit carbon dioxide emissions and improve management of marine protected areas, reefs like The Great Barrier Reef and [|Northwestern Hawaiian Islands] will become wastelands of dead coral." - Coral reefs are also affected by elevated sea temperatures which can trigger "bleaching" events. Bleaching causes the coral to expel symbiotic zooxanthellae algae living in their tissues- algae that provides corals with nourishment,
 * 1. Coral Reefs**
 * How can acidification in the ocean affect coral reefs?

2. Other ocean ecosystems 3. Oceanic food chains [|4. Ousters] 5. Habitats Early life states of fish (eggs, larvae) are likely to be vulnerable to change in pH. Ecological effects are the change in food quality, quantity and timing. Fishing mortality has gone up tremendously due to one of the climate changes on our planet, the acidification in our oceans.
 * 6. Fisheries**
 * How can acidification in the ocean affect **Fisheries?**



5 facts on Ocean Acidification and Coral Reefs
 * Coral Reefs provide habitat for at least a quarter of all marine species. Many of these face extinction if reefs disappear.
 * The biodiversity of Coral Reefs are at risk of disappearing and places in jeopardy an estimated 500 million people who depend on coral reefs for their daily food and income.
 * [|The Great Barrier Reef] Generates over 6.5 billion dollars in tourism and revenue and 63,000 jobs.



WE NEED TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF CARBON DIOXIDE IN THE ATMOSPHERE OTHERWISE OUR OCEANS ARE GOING TO LOOK MUCH DIFFERENT BY THE TIME WE HIT THE AGE OF 60. DO SOMETHING TODAY TO STOP WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE CORAL REEFS.